The invention relates to a pair of conical disks (pulley halves) of a continuously variable cone-pulley transmission with pressure compartments that can be turned on and off.
Continuously variable cone-pulley transmissions are of high interest for use in motor vehicles, particularly passenger cars because, in addition to increased comfort (absence of gear-shift jolts) in comparison to automatic transmissions using hydrodynamic converters, they offer potential advantages in fuel consumption.
A pair of conical disks falling within the same category as the present invention is known from DE 195 44 644. The continuously variable cone-pulley transmission according to this publication has a pair of disks arranged on, and constrained to share the rotation of, the driving shaft and a pair of disks arranged on, and constrained to impart their rotation to, the driven shaft. The disk pairs each have an axially movable conical disk and an axially fixed conical disk. Between the two disk pairs, an endless-loop means in the form of a chain is provided for transmitting a torque. Transmissions of this kind may be subject to leakage losses, which can be harmful to their proper functioning.